No these are entry level courses so the City and Guilds level 2, BTEC level 3 fibre optics and FOA CFOTs are your starting point you can progress onto more specialist courses later like blown fibre FTTx advanced testing etc.

The industry has changed quite a lot and organisations are now wanted to see formal qualifications not work experience to get a Communications Installer CSCS card you need to have a formal qualification. Large organisations, Councils, and education establishments now want to see this, some recruitment agencies are also taking the stance and will not accept on the job experience any longer.

Yes fibre to the home is starting to happen but FTTX where X can be street cabinets, office, business, home, antenna etc is already being deployed, BT are still deploying FTTC fibre to the cabinet and the government are also running a number of schemes across large cities for businesses. Mobile operators are deploying FTTA which is fibre to the antenna.

All our trainers are vetted by the awarding organisation, they hold the current qualification for what they teach, and also work inside the industry on a daily basis and have a continued professional development plan and attend numerous courses each year. The criteria for the FOA is they must have a minimum of 5 years teaching in the industry and pass the instructors exam for each course they teach, they must also have for City and Guilds and BTEC have a teaching qualification PTTLLS, A1 assessor and now the new TAQA award.

The cfots Certified Fiber Optics Technician is recognised globally this course is the first step to become a qualified technician, this is an American qualification and is not the same as city and guilds or other UK qualifications. Organisations around the globe are asking for this and the city and guilds.

Our training centre is based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and we only run vocational training from here unless otherwise agreed with the awarding body, we can deliver the FOA qualifications away from our main training centre, and also short bespoke courses.

You will need to complete the city and guilds 3667-02 certified network installer course, this course is broken down into four modules Unit 1 Communication principles, Unit 2 Fibre optics internal, Unit 3 Fibre optics external, Unit 4 Copper cabling internal. The city and guild course falls under the QCF programme which is the new framework across the UK.

The City and Guilds 3667-03 Design and Planning course is based around the UK and European standards not the TIA and American standards there is a big difference between European and American standards, when we look at design and planning a network we look at the following standards some of these include EN 50173, EN 50174, ISO 11801 and many others, we are not saying you have to complete the city and guilds course and not BICSI the choice is yours. The issue came about and City and Guilds were asked to come up with a formal qualification, if you research how courses are designed it comes from the industry not training organisations. Training organisations only deliver the qualification on behalf of the awarding body, so the course was designed to meet the current and future of design and planning to cater for the UK and European standards.

We use a number of learning techniques blended learning uses real life scenarios for what we have seen happen, we don’t teach death by powerpoint the training centre is fully equipped with test labs and networks that you build on the course, these are done in a practical lab environment and not at a desk or hotels conference room.

Most other training providers use customised courses which are not recognised within the QCF framework, we took the stance and used a recognised course within the industry the BTEC level 3 course that we offer has been written for the industry and is recognised by BT, Virgin Media and many others, and is not customised they are level 2/3/4 awards and in most instances you can use accredited prior learning and use the qualifications you may have already completed in the HM Forces.